Irma Grese and Deception

IRMA GRESE AND DECEPTION

Analyzing Primary Source Documents

Background: Below is an excerpt from BBC correspondent Patrick Gordon-Walker about his experience at Belsen concentration camp on 24 April, 1945. Read the excerpt and discuss with your classmates your impressions.

he camps were so full because people had Men and women had fought for these raw, “Tbeen brought here from east and west. Some uncooked roots. Dead bodies, black and blue and people were brought from Nordhausen, a five-day bloated, and skeletons had been used as pillows journey, without food. Many had marched for two by sick people. The day after we took over, seven or three days. There was no food at all in the camp, block leaders, mostly Poles, were murdered by a few piles of roots- amidst the piles of dead bodies. the inmates. Some were still beating the people. Some of the dead bodies were of people so hungry We arrested one woman who had beaten another that though the roots were guarded by SS-men woman with a board. She quite frankly admitted they had tried to storm them and had been shot the offense. We are arresting these people. down then and there. There was no water, nothing An enormous buried dump of personal jewelry but these roots and some boiled stinking carrots, and belongings was discovered in suitcases. When enough for a few hundred people. I went to the camp five days after its liberation, there were still bodies all around. I saw about a thousand.”

Directions: Ordinary men and women have committed the most inhumane and immoral atrocities in human history. Whether falling into self-deception or being consumed by self-interest, these individuals lost their humanity. By studying these tragic events and the evil that drove them, we can learn to better avoid the dangers deception poses for all of us. Read the essay below and answer the discussion questions.

he trial began on September 17, 1945. On the German people and extreme nationalism. By the Tstand were 45 defendants, each accused of acts mid-1930s, the Nazi Party dominated Germany, of great barbarity. One of them was a 22-year-old establishing a one-party totalitarian state and dic- woman from northeastern Germany. Her beauty tatorship of Hitler. The Nazis created laws targeted made her stand out from the crowd. With blonde especially against Jews, including forbidding mar- hair and blue eyes, she was the picture of Aryan riage with Germans, limiting Jewish citizenship, beauty. Her name was Irma Grese. and banning Jews from professions. Irma was born on a small farm in northeastern The Nazis tried to mobilize all members of Germany in 1923. Her mother committed suicide society to form a mass movement of the entire when she was only 13, leaving her to be raised only nation. Therefore, the Hitler Youth and League of by her father. Her sister described her as a shy and German Women were set up for young boys and meek child who would often avoid conflict instead girls to be introduced to the radical ideology of of starting it. She left school when she was 14, as the Nazi Party. These organizations encouraged she was frustrated and bored of her schooling. After a fervent faith in the Nazi ideology and to report dropping out of school, Irma worked several odd anyone who disagreed, including family members jobs until she eventually began working at a local if necessary. Irma joined the League of German hospital, where she received training to be a nurse. Women and received indoctrination at a young age. During the 1930s in Germany, a political move- She became a fervent advocate of the Nazi ideology. ment called the National Socialist Germany Work- While working at the hospital and attending ers Party, or Nazis, seized power under the Nazi rallies, Irma also began to meet Nazi party leadership of its charismatic, dema- officials. In addition to her personal gogic leader, Adolf Hitler, and activities, Irma was surrounded by the strong-arm tactics of its war propaganda, calling upon paramilitary troops, the SA German youth to aide the brownshirts. The Na- Nazi cause in whatever zis gained power and way they could. Her increasing popularity dedication to Nazi with a promise to over- ideals was rewarded by come the economic the regime. By 1942 calamity of the Great she had joined the S.S. Depression, and an ap- Auxiliaries and been peal to an ideology of posted to Ravensbruck racial superiority of the concentration camp for

HEROES & VILLAINS: THE QUEST FOR CIVIC VIRTUE training to become a prison guard. do all they could to disguise their true health during Irma, like all other Nazi camp guards, underwent these inspections. Irma was known personally to several weeks of training which further brainwashed poke and prod prisoners to test their true health. recruits by reinforcing the party ideology and taught The shy farm girl had turned herself into a tool for the women how to control prisoners. The training the racial ideology professed by the Nazis, which also dehumanized the Jews by referring to them created a sadistic tormentor who participated in the as “sub-human” and comparing them to parasites. Holocaust, or extermination of the Jews. Irma took to the training with avidity. The warped In April of 1945, the elements of the British and ideology of Nazism gave her what she thought was Canadian armies captured Irma when they liberated a purpose. This combined with her training would the concentration camp of Bergen-Belsen where she drive her to unspeakable acts of violence. was posted. In September of 1945 she went on trial Irma served in several concentrations camps for the atrocities that she and others committed at from 1943 to 1945, including the notorious camp the concentration camps of Auschwitz and Bergen- at Auschwitz. She saw the prisoners she was Belsen. She denied the severity of the charges that charged with as less than human and treated them were brought up against her during the trial and with disdain. She became more and more sadistic never sincerely apologized for them. with her prisoners. She was known to carry a whip Irma Grese was executed on December and a pistol on her at all times; both tools she used 13, 1945. She was only twenty-two, but had to inflict pain and suffering upon those under committed unspeakable crimes. She was deluded her watch. She was also known to engage in the by an extreme racial ideology of hatred. Instead of a psychological torture of prisoners. She would often normal, happy childhood, she had deceived herself make them stand at roll call for hours, no matter the and enthusiastically participated in genocide and weather, to test their resolve. Irma was also tasked one of the greatest crimes against humanity in with selecting “unfit” prisoners to be sent to their world history . When she was executed, she was deaths in the gas chambers. Many prisoners would the age of most college seniors today.

Defining Civic Virtues: Deception To lie to yourself and others either to deceive purposefully or because you are deluded into thinking that something is right when it is wrong and unjust.

Directions: Discuss the following questions with your partner(s).

1. Why do you think Irma was deceived by Nazi ideology?

2. Why was the ideology of Nazism so deceptive to the German people?

3. What experiences in Irma’s life may have influenced her views about Nazi ideology?

4. To what extent are individuals responsible for their deeds while participating in a collective action?

5. What do Irma Grese’s actions say about her views regarding the humanity of the individuals she was guarding?

6. How did tenants of Nazi ideology corrupt Irma’s view of humanity?

7. Do you think that Irma believed what she was doing was right or was she deceiving herself in order to find a sense of purpose and belonging? Does this change her level of moral culpability? If so, How?

8. Because she joined the League of German Women at a young age, was she responsible for the person that she grew to be or was she merely a product of indoctrination?

9. If she was merely a product of indoctrination, does this reduce her level of moral culpability or is a person always responsible for his or her actions as an adult?

10. Considering her level of moral culpability, are any of her actions or choices forgivable? Explain.

11. Should she be looked at as a truly horrific person who is responsible for deplorable acts or as tragic figure who was indoctrinated at a young age into a dangerous and evil ideology? Can she be both of these things at the same time?

12. What does it say about Irma that she denied or refused to admit to the charges that were arraigned against her?

13. In light of this story, how should we examine the actions of those who joined the Hitler Youth and the League of German Women? Are they all morally culpable for their actions? Does indoctrination excuse or mitigate their actions?

HEROES & VILLAINS: THE QUEST FOR CIVIC VIRTUE PHOTO COMPARISON

PHOTO 1 Look at the image of the girls at the left. Write down as many observations about them as you can about them. What are their emotions? What do you believe their profession is?

© THE BILL OF RIGHTS INSTITUTE PHOTO 2 Now review the second photo. What changes about your perception of the guards? What in the photo changed your perception of it? What happened to the ordinary people we saw in the pervious photo? Does your view of them change? What observations do you have about them now?

HEROES & VILLAINS: THE QUEST FOR CIVIC VIRTUE The girls in the photo were members of the League of German Women, the female arm of the Hitler youth. Several members of this league would go on to serve as female prison guards in concentration camps, such as the one pictured to the right.

CRITICAL THINKING QUESTION How does this photo impact your view of the three girls from before? Do you think the girls in the first photo are capable of such atrocities? How do you think it was that ordinary individuals became involved in such barbaric actions? Though Irma Grese is not one of the girls pictured, she was apart of the same League of German Women. How does knowing Irma’s story affect how you view the girls?

Suggested Launch Activity TEACHER’S NOTES

CENTRAL QUESTION About Launch How can a person become so deceived by an idea that Activities they will commit horrific acts against others? How can one prevent themselves from being deceived in a such a This optional introductory activity is designed way? to support you in the classroom. However, the primary narratives and PRIMARY SOURCES & THE HOLOCAUST photos in the section that follows can be used with or The Holocaust was a unique event in human history. Adolf Hitler without this introduction. and the Nazi regime carried out the genocide of an entire group of people, the Jews. Although Jews were practitioners of a religion, the Nazis used Social Darwinism and other racial science theory to label Jews a race who were “inferior.” They used the modern technology of railroads to ship Jews from all over Europe and killed them in modern factory systems. The organization of the systematic mass murder was carried out by Nazi bureaucrats who saw it as a complex problem to solve. All of this happened in the modern twentieth century. As a result, the Nazis killed six million Jews and millions of other people deemed “inferior.” In the wake of World War II, the world cried, “Never Forget.” Discuss with the students how primary sources are important to the Holocaust for several reasons. Primary sources help preserve the memory of this terrible crime so that it never happens again. Additionally, primary sources help us to remember the victims of the genocide. Since there are those who deny that the Holocaust happen or question its scope, primary sources provide stark and comprehensive evidence that the Holocaust happened. Finally, primary sources associated with the Nazi participants can help start to explain how the people could have deceived themselves into thinking that it was morally acceptable to kill Jews.

HEROES & VILLAINS: THE QUEST FOR CIVIC VIRTUE IRMA GRESE AND DECEPTION